9 out of 10 Transgender Employees in America Experience Discrimination in the Workplace

Transgender Economic Equality on Agenda at 2015 Creating Change February 4-8 in Denver, Colorado

January 20, 2015 - The U.S. unemployment rate for gender non-conforming individuals is twice the national employment rate and a staggering four times the national rate for transgender people of color. Nine out of every 10 of those who manage to find jobs also report they have experienced some form of workplace discrimination.

These findings, drawn from the comprehensive study Injustice at Every Turn*, are sobering indicators that the gender diverse community cannot achieve full social equality until these and other economic injustices are addressed and remedied.

The Institute for Transgender Economic Advancement (ITEA) seeks to raise awareness about creating economic equality for transgender and gender non-conforming people and will take its advocacy to the upcoming 2015 Creating Change Conference. Denise Norris, ITEA Founding Director, remarked, “The Creating Change conference is an ideal platform to communicate our message about Gender Authenticity and Economic Advancement to the thought leaders of the LGBTQI community.” This year’s conference will take place in Denver, Colorado on February 4-8, 2015.

Directors Denise Norris and Vanessa Sheridan will represent ITEA at the conference to create dialogue, share ideas, and strategize about creating economic change for the gender diverse community, an underrepresented group which includes transgender, genderqueer, genderfluid, intersex and gender non-conforming persons and the importance of Gender Authenticity in creating a more just society and workplace in the U.S.

Gender Authenticity, a guiding principle for ITEA, is defined as the right of all individuals to express their gender identity and sexual orientation without fear of discrimination, harassment or coercion to conform to gender stereotypes. ITEA believes Gender Authenticity is a basic human right that applies to every person, everywhere.

To help support employers in creating gender authentic workplaces that are welcoming to gender diverse employees, ITEA has developed a set of organizational guidelines called the Six Core Competencies. These guidelines are designed to help organizations 1) create Gender Authentic workplaces and 2) avoid potential legal risks and pitfalls.

The Six Core Competencies are:

Contact

To learn more about ITEA or to schedule a media interview with Denise or Vanessa during the Creating Change conference, please contact:
Vanessa Sheridan, Director
Mobile: (952) 221-2957
E-mail: [email protected]

About the Institute for Transgender Economic Advancement

ITEA is a registered 501(c)(3) nonprofit educational charity dedicated to creating economic advancement and financial equality for transgender and gender non-conforming people. The organization’s mission is to incubate and sponsor programs and services which cumulatively serve to advance the gender diverse community economically. ITEA initiatives include workplace trainings, professional networking, self-employment, career fairs, fiscal sponsorships and other programs, always with a continuing focus on achieving both legal and lived equality for the transgender community.

Web: www.transgenderprofessionals.org

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/4ITEA

Twitter: @4ITEA

Email: [email protected]

About ITEA Directors

Denise Norris is the founding director of the Institute for Transgender Economic Advancement. She is also the lead for global transgender workplace inclusion at a global management consulting firm with 300,000 employees worldwide. She serves on the Board of Directors for Marriage Equality USA, a national organization advocating an end of discrimination regarding civil marriage for all people regardless of gender or orientation. Her roots in the gender diverse community extend back more than 20 years to co-founding The Transexual Menace in 1993. In 2012, she received the Stonewall Spirit of Pride Award from the Stonewall National Museum and Archives for her contributions to the Transgender community. Her vision for the future is that we will no longer be separated by letters like L, G, B and T, but will become one community, united in seeking equality for all genders and all orientations. She claims the mountains of the Catskills in New York State as home, and lives with several horses and a couple of dogs.

Vanessa Sheridan is the author of the groundbreaking ABC-CLIO book, "The Complete Guide to Transgender in the Workplace," and a two-time national Lambda Literary Award finalist. A transgender community advocate since 1991, she is a leading corporate consultant, trainer and speaker who spent much of 2014 providing transgender awareness trainings for the federal EEOC on a nationwide basis. She is a member of the Transgender Advisory Committee for Out & Equal Workplace Advocates and a former Board member of the Stonewall National Museum & Archives. She lives in the Minneapolis, Minnesota area and is a singer/composer/multi- instrumentalist.

About Creating Change

Creating Change is the premier annual organizing and skills-building event for the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community and their allies. The conference attracts more than 3,500 people from all over the country every year. Presenters and participants come from all walks of life and include members of the business community, elected officials, students, faith leaders and staff and volunteers of non-profit organizations. See www.creatingchange.org

Source: * Injustice at Every Turn

Grant, Ph.D., Jaime M., Lisa A. Mottet, J.D., and Justin Tanis, D.Min. "Injustice at Every Turn - A Report of the National Transgender Discrimination Survey." The LGBTQI Task Force. Accessed January 16, 2015. http://www.thetaskforce.org/static_html/downloads/reports/reports/ntds_full.pdf.

 

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